


Remember the Scouts

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baseball, Crime, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-09-09
Packaged: 2017-12-24 08:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ymir has just transferred from Maria Preparatory School, home of the Titans, to Rose Academy, home of the Scouts, with the sole focus of forgetting about baseball and focusing on her goal of going into Criminal Justice. However, she is tricked by the ever popular Krista Lenz into joining the Scouts' baseball team. However, by joining, Ymir becomes closer to her fellow teammates and eventually decides to help with their goal of defeating the Titans.</p>
          </blockquote>





	1. The Very Beginning of it All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ymir has just transferred from Maria Preparatory School, home of the Titans, to Rose Academy, home of the Scouts, with the sole focus of forgetting about baseball and focusing on her goal of going into Criminal Justice. However, she is tricked by the ever popular Krista Lenz into joining the Scouts' baseball team. However, by joining, Ymir becomes closer to her fellow teammates and eventually decides to help with their goal of defeating the Titans.

“Ymir Goldhull!”

I looked up to see my AP Biology teacher, Miss Hanji, crouched in front of my desk and staring at me with wide eyes behind her wire-rimmed glasses. I had been spacing out again and even if I wasn't the only one that hadn't been paying attention, I was the most obvious by propping up my head with my arm and staring at the clock.

“Uh-yeah?” I answered, removing my face from my hand and removed my elbow from the desk to sit up straight. 

“Were you not paying attention to what I was saying?” she asked.

“No,” I answered honestly.

“So does my teaching bore you then?” 

“Your teaching doesn't. Just the subject,” I replied. Her face fell a little at that and I almost felt bad. Miss Hanji was one of those few teachers that actually enjoyed their job and really got into the curriculum. She tended to stray onto the subject of genetics a lot but she wasn't a bad teacher. 

“I see,” she said as she stood up. For a moment, I thought she was going to scold me but then she smiled brightly at me.

“Maybe it is now but I hope that by the end of the year I manage to pique your curiosity! There's just so much to learn about this world's organisms and the chromosomal growth of-”

And with that, she walked back to the front of the class and continued to ramble. I propped up my arm once more and leaned my head on my hand but this time made sure that I was at least looking interested.

~{*}~

It had been about about four months since I transferred to Rose Academy from Maria Preparatory School. The schools did not necessarily rival each other; it was well known that Rose Academy was more of an academic school while Maria Prep seemed to put all of their resources into their sports department. 

A couple years prior, most schools in the state had made their teams co-ed and I had been on the baseball team at Maria Prep. We called ourselves the Titans and we were really good. I had left at the end of my Sophomore year and they had already been undefeated for ten years running. It would have been a lot longer but ten years prior, a seventeen-year-old boy by the name of Levi Heichou entered Rose Academy and joined the baseball team. It was said that not only was he a player, but more of a coach to the rest of the team than the actual coach himself. That year, Maria got wiped out at the championship. 

Levi Heichou eventually went on to play Major League baseball and he broke several records. It was even said that he matched the skill of Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson. I looked up to him as a sort of idol in my life, most likely because of the rumors about his criminal past but he had still become successful. He was a strange man seeing as he was a short man that had French ancestry but a Japanese last name. Whatever his oddities, though, he was still well known as on of the greatest baseball players of this generation. However, in the middle of the season last year, he had managed to hurt his knee and decided to take some time off. He hadn't been heard from since.

My time at Rose Academy had showed me that they still revered him even though he had not even come back in the past ten years. The baseball team was still popular but in all frankness, couldn't even make it into the tournament. The very first day I came to the school, I was approached by a perpetually angry looking boy with piercing green eyes.

“You're a Titan, aren't you?” he asked me. There was a blonde boy beside him who seemed somewhat embarrassed at his friend's behavior.

He put a hand on the green eyed boy and said, “Eren,” but the taller boy shrugged his hand off. I sighed.

“I _was_ a Titan. I go to school here now, not Maria,” I answered actually managing to be somewhat civil.

The boy, Eren, apparently didn't care about civility.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, mostly to learn,” I replied, hitching my book bag up. Judging by his face, I surmised that he expected me to say that I was spying or something.

Eren clenched his fists and drew himself to his full height. “Just so you know, this is the year that we defeat the Titans! I swear on it!”

I could have really cared less so I started to walk past him and said, “Great. Brownie points for you.”

The look of shock at my apathy was almost comical. It wasn't until later that I found out that he was Eren Jaeger and a Senior. His past three years in high school had been dedicated to beating the Titans in baseball but they sucked. We hadn't ever considered them to be a rival the past few years solely for the fact that they didn't make it to the tournament. Not that it mattered. I had decided to never play again so I honestly didn't care.

~{*}~

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. We all gathered our books up and started to shuffle out of the classroom as Miss Hanji shouted our homework at us.

My next class was English. The classes here were a lot tougher than they were at Maria but I was able to keep up with the work just fine. It was better this way. I needed to be challenged, especially since I had decided a long time ago that I would be going into Criminal Justice. 

I reached my locker and opened it to see the familiar bare, metal walls. The only things I really kept in my locker were my books and my skateboard. I never really gave much thought to adorning the insider of my locker but the lack of pictures just signified that I had not made much of an effort to be social here. Even back at Maria I was never really close to anybody. Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were the closest I had to friends but since they were a grade above me and not all that social themselves, we never really socialized outside of baseball. However, I've never been one of those whiny people that wished they had friends. I just didn't care. People were alright and all that but most of the time they were stupid and selfish. Not that I was an exception, I was just the only one who didn't fool myself into thinking any differently. 

There was, however, one person that could almost make me change my mind.

I placed my Biology book in the locker and took out my English book before shoving it into my back pack and closed my locker before walking down the crowded hallway. There was a table at the end of it with a sign that read “Donations for Fire Relief”. I knew about the fire that took out a whole bunch of houses the previous week but I knew that there weren't any casualties. The booth had been there for a while and was usually manned by people that were on their free period. It didn't really concern me so I when I reached the end of the hall, I turned right to head to my English class.

Just as I was passing the table, a clear voice spoke.

“Would you like to donate something to help the families that lost their homes, Ymir?”

I turned towards the speaker and saw it was none other than Krista Lenz standing in front of me. 

Now don't get me wrong, I've never been the type of person that spent my time thinking about a single person endlessly if I found that they wouldn't be of use to me later. But Krista had always been kind to me even when I when I was a rotten person to begin with. Ever since day one she had always made an effort to talk to me with just little questions like “How are you, Ymir?” or “It looks like it's going to rain. I hope you brought an umbrella, Ymir” or even, “I hope you aren't getting sick”. It was annoying but I wouldn't fool myself and say that I had more than a little developed a crush on her.

She was probably one of the most popular people in school, if this school even had popularity contests. It was partly because she was small and cute with blonde hair and probably some of the most gorgeous blue eyes I had ever seen. The other reason was because she was the kindest person you would ever meet. She was nice to everyone all the time and never said a cruel word to anybody. If this school had ever had problems with bullying, it stopped when Krista decided to come here. She was always the advocate for the weak. 

These two reasons put together were enough to make most men fall in love with her. I always heard that she was perfect “wife” material.

But something about her “always do good” act sort of bothered me. As much as I liked her, she was too perfect. Nobody did good things all the time for nothing in return.

“Why?” I asked bluntly. She looked a bit taken aback.

“Well, because they lost everything...” she said slowly.

I looked behind her at the booth where another girl, who I think was named Sasha. She was famous for stealing baked potatoes from the school cafeteria at the beginning of the school year, was looking at the two of us. I looked back down at Krista.

“So...you are trying to do a good thing?” I said. It wasn't so much a question as a statement and she recognized that and said nothing.

“And with Potato Girl? Why? What do you stand to gain?”

The look on her face changed from confusion to defiance. She didn't say anything but her face was surprisingly easy to read. I realized then that she didn't do things to just be nice. Sure, that was part of the reason, but she also wanted to be known as the nice girl. While she already had an image of being a sweet, innocent person, she was making sure that she was still building up that image. Almost like she was doing it for the honor of it all.

“Whatever,” I sighed as I swung my backpack off my shoulder. I unzipped the front pocket and took out my wallet. I was secretly glad that she had selfish reasons for doing the good that she did. Up until this point, she had been unapproachable because she had seemed so far above normal people. She was even known as “God” at Maria.

“So, you are going to do something good too?” she asked challengingly. I had just called her out on her motives and now she was doing the same to me. I smirked. She was smart.

“Yeah,” I said as I pulled out some of the bills in my wallet. I had just gotten my biweekly allowance from my parents so I was loaded at that moment. “One good turn deserves another right? I expect that since I did something nice, something nice will happen to me.”

I pulled out a couple bills out and handed them over. Krista's eyes widened when she saw the double zeros on them but before she could object, I put my wallet back in my backpack and zipped it up before walking away. It was a cold trick and I knew that she was smart enough to figure out if she wanted to fall for it or not. I counted silently to myself. Just as I started to think that she wouldn't take the bait, I felt a hand on my arm.

“That was a dirty thing to do. If you wanted something from me, you should have just asked,” Krista scolded as I stopped and turn towards her. She still had the money in her hand as if she meant to return it.

“I wanted to intrigue you,” I said. I debated on whether or not to say what I wanted to next but I was never one for tact. So instead of beating around the bush, I looked around to make sure that nobody in the hallway could here us before I bluntly said, “Would you have gone out with me if I had outright asked you?”

Her expression was so comical that I could have laughed if I hadn't been so worried about being rejected. I put my hand in my pocket and leaned away from her as her faced turned a deep scarlet.

“What?” she asked in a small voice. I had to admire her for not looking away from my face but I wanted nothing more than the excuse to look away and blush myself.

“I won't repeat myself.”

We stood there just staring at each other. The late bell rang, but I didn't really care about my next class. It was another silent battle of wills with each of us as embarrassed but this time, I decided to not pursue things any farther. She probably got asked out multiple times in a week and if I was honest, probably wasn't even interested in girls.

“Whatever,” I sighed and started once more to my class, “Keep the money. It could buy some kids clothes or something.”

“Wait!” she grabbed my arm once more and turned me in her direction. I raised my eyebrows at her.

“You're a Titan right?”

I sighed. Of course she knew of my previous school.

“ _Was_ a Titan. If you haven't noticed, I've changed schools,” I said gesturing to the hall around us. I somehow knew this was going to be about.

“Our baseball team is co-ed too.”

There it was. I didn't know she was on the baseball team. I wavered for a moment thinking that I should give baseball a try again but then I remembered why I had quit in the first place. I sighed but before I could say anything, she charged ahead.

“We didn't get to play you guys last year but we did come and see your championship game,” she said, “And you're really good.”

“I'm not joining the Scouts,” I said bluntly, “I left Maria for a reason.”

“It wasn't because of baseball. I saw you and you always looked happy while you were playing,” she said stubbornly.

“You watched me?”

She averted her eyes, embarrassed, but pressed on, “If you try out, I'll accept your offer.”

My eyes widened when she said that. Did she actually mean that she would go out with me? But then I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

“You know that if I try out, I will get on the team,” I said.

“That's your choice. All I said was that you had to try out,” Krista replied. That was true. There was really no commitment to stay. I didn't really even need to try.

“But, you have to honestly do your best. And I will know if you are giving anything less than one hundred percent.”

Fuck. I was honestly beginning to wonder if this girl was psychic or not. But all I had to do was try out and it was a free date with the famous Krista Lenz. It didn't seem like an unfair deal.

“Fine. I will do it,” I said.

She gave me the most genuine smile I have ever seen and clapped her hands together.

“Great! Try outs are this Friday at four on the field. I will see you then!”

She was so genuinely happy that I couldn't say anything before she skipped back down the hall. She suddenly stopped and looked at the money her hand as if she just remembered she still had it. She turned back to me but I waved her off.

“Keep it,” I said turning around to walk to my next class, “I meant what I said about the kids clothes.”

I was already late for English and no doubt that Mr. Zakarius would be pissed but at that moment, I didn't really care. I had somehow managed to score a date with the girl I had been crushing on for months and if that wasn't something to celebrate, I don't know what was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, about a month ago I went to my friend's softball game and I've had this idea in my head ever since. Can't account for quality but I'm hoping that it will get better. This is my first true fanfiction so I'm a little nervous to see the response this gets (if any).
> 
> i already have a bunch of random scenes written out its just that I need to write the scenes that lace them all together. I really hope that nobody is too OOC, but it is an AU so maybe its a bit forgivable.
> 
> I just really needed a skateboarding Ymir, alright?
> 
> And just a warning, I know next to nothing about baseball so all of my writing is based off of research and questions I've asked my cousin, who in all honesty, just wanted me to leave him alone so he could watch TV.
> 
> I don't know how often I will be able to update because of work but I'm hoping that I can often. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!


	2. Try Outs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ymir gets ready to try out for the team when the whole team gets a surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For future reference:
> 
> Seniors-Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Krista, Connie, Reiner, and Annie
> 
> Juniors-Ymir, Marco, Sasha, Franz, Samuel, and Bertholdt
> 
> Sophmores-Hannah, Mina, Nack, Tomas, and Millius

It wasn't until the last bell rang that I realized that try outs for the baseball team were entirely too early. It was still mid-January. Fortunately, living in a state that never had a temperature below fifty degrees had its perks but that still didn't dismiss the fact that they were starting practice almost a month and a half before everyone else. Maybe they just sucked that badly.

I reached my locker and opened it up. Taking out the books that I needed along with with my skateboard, I prepared to head home. I tossed my books into my bag before shutting the locker. It was Wednesday now so I had two days until try outs. I shook my head silently to myself and headed home.

~{*}~ 

My home was actually a two bedroom condo that I lived alone in. In terms of being a high school student, my set up was pretty sweet. I mean, how often did high school kids get to live without their parents. 

My parents paid for my condo and all of my expenses. I never had a bad relationship with them. In fact, it was because they actually cared about my well-being that I lived here.

My parents were actually pretty successful criminals in the underground and that was as much as I knew. Ever since I could remember, my older brother, Emil, and I had lived separated from our parents. Emil was only five years older than me so we had lived with an older guy named Keith for a while until my parents decided that we were old enough to take care of ourselves and gave us an apartment when Emil turned fifteen. They always made sure we had what we needed and called when they could but it became apparent that they tried to make sure that nobody knew that we were their children. 

However, despite their efforts to keep us out of the criminal world, Emil got caught up in it just as I was about to enter high school. After several phone calls to my parents, Emil promised to leave and was threatened to not make contact with me again.

I hadn't heard from him in the past three years but I had heard that he was mixed up in a lot of drugs. I had been moved to the condo just in case he decided to come back but true to his word, he hadn't made contact with me in the past three years. Whatever my family was involved in must have been extremely fucked up by such extreme lengths they were taking but I didn't really bother about thinking about it all that much. It wasn't really my world.

~{*}~ 

I never locked the door to the condo. I guess I was just too lazy to and if anybody wanted to steal anything it was easily replaced. The only things of value were kept in a safe in my room that was damn near impossible to lift. Everything else was easily replaceable. And plus, my condo was on the second floor. A common thief would probably just go for the easiest target on the first floor. 

As I walked through the door I called out, “Gargamel!”

Seconds later, the orange tabby came slinking into the short hallway and fixed me with a glare. I leaned down to pet him, but he produced a low growl in his throat before stalking back into the living room just off the hallway. 

“Yeah, you too, you stupid cat,” I muttered.

The rest of the night was spent blissfully relaxing while watching some TV as I did my homework. I didn't know then that this would probably be one of the last times I would be able to do so in a long time.

~{*}~ 

Friday afternoon came too soon for me. I began to wonder if I should even follow through. It was obvious that Krista was only agreeing to the date with me because of the chance I might actually join the team and as great as it was that I had finally gotten the balls to ask her out and her accept, I would have rather it had been because she genuinely wanted to.

I had already dug out my baseball bag with all my old basball gear from my closet earlier this morning. I had checked it over and while my baseball glove and helmet were well used and worn, they would still work. My bat, however, was brand new due to my parents giving it to me for Christmas.

At about 3:45, I changed into my old baseball pants and cleats, happy that they still fit. The cleats, in all honesty, were just about to fall apart, but they would be alright for one day. I noticed it was a little cold out but I knew that once we started try outs, we would be warm enough. I put my hoodie in my locker, grabbed my bag and water bottle, and headed to the field.

I was halfway there when I heard someone shout my name. I turned to see Eren with his sister, Mikasa, with the ever present red scarf around her neck, and his blond friend, Armin. They all had their own dufflebags with their own equipment.

“What are you doing?” Eren asked suspiciously. I rolled my eyes.

“Going to get some ice cream,” I responded. He didn't respond until he was in front of me.

“Are-are you trying out too?” He asked sheepishly, not meeting my eyes. I looked at Mikasa but she seemed to be focused on the field behind me. When I looked at Armin, he only shrugged.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Good!” He shouted into my face. I took a step back in surprise as he continued, “I gave you a hard time at the beginning of the year but with you on our team we might be able to-”

“Holy shit, Eren, is this an apology or a compliment?” I interrupted. He narrowed his eyes.

“I was only saying that it would be good to have you on the team,” He spat, “Since we, you know...suck.”

“Oh, so you are aware of it then,” I said. At least they didn't think it was the ref's fault. Those were the worst teams.

“Hey!”

“Whatever, I'm going,” I said, turning around.

“Walk with us, Ymir,” Armin spoke for the first time. I turned to look at him as did Eren, but he only smiled shyly. I sighed and agreed even though I knew it would be awkward walking with three upper classmen who hadn't really talked to me all year.

Once we reached the field, I noticed that their were several other people were there too. Krista was already there as well, stretching on the ground and talking to a black-haired girl who was beside her. A petite blonde woman greeted us as we approached.

“Hi!” She grinned at us, “You can go ahead and start stretching until everyone gets here.”

“Are you our new coach?” Eren asked and I could see a tinge of red coloring his cheeks. I smirked.

“No, no. I'm the assistant coach. You can call me Coach Ral,” She replied cheerily.

Eren mumbled something but I didn't really take the time to listen. I walked over to where Krista was and I stopped in front of her. Both her and the black-haired girl looked up and I saw a smile start to spread across Krista's face.

“Yo, I'm here,” I said as I back over at Coach Ral talking animatedly to Eren and his posse.

“I'm glad!” She sprang up and caught one of my hands. I jumped at the sudden contact. “I knew you would come!”

“Yeah, well,” I said, taking my hand from hers as my own blush started to form, “Looks like we all should be stretching.”

She blinked a few times before smiling and nodding in agreement. 

A few more people started trickling in and I recognized some of them as my classmates. After a few minutes, I asked, “Do you know who the new coach is?”

Krista didn't respond but the black-haired girl shook her head.

“Nobody really knows. Coach Pixis was the coach last year but retired. It's been a really big secret, for some reason,” She told me, “My name's Mina, by the way. Mina Carolina.”

“Ymir,” I responded but she only giggled.

“I know.”

I furrowed my eyebrows at her response but before she could say more a voice interrupted everyone's conversations.

“Alright, you shits, it's time to start.”

I didn't look up right away but I heard a few people gasp. As I raised my head to see the speaker, my own eyes widened in surprise.

“I see that most of you brats recognize me so it's pretty useless introducing myself but I'm your new coach, Levi Heichou.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, it's a shitty chapter and I really didn't mean to end it here. However, I'm hoping that it gets better soon. Starting has always been the hardest for me. I have a bunch of stuff for this story already written but they are all scenes for the middle and end.
> 
> Anyway, nothing really happened in this chapter except for the cliffhanger, which I'm sure everyone figured out before it was said.
> 
> Anyway, I will try to be faster with updates, but like I said, I work a lot so it's harder.
> 
> I really hope that I got across that kind of lonely feeling while I was writing about her at her house. But now I'm thinking that it was more awkward instead. Whatever. Nothing's perfect right?


	3. Of Teams and Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Try outs progress as Coach Levi keeps a sharp and practiced eye on the players.

For a long moment nobody said anything as we all processed that the famous Levi Heichou was standing in front of us. The world famous champion; the one who only broke records and left even his teammates in the dust. The Levi Heichou.

I'll be honest, he was a lot shorter than I thought he would be. Even so, he still had an imposing air about him. His eyes were squinted and he looked as if he was perpetually bored. He crossed his arms and sized us all up. 

“Well, fuck me with a drumstick,” Eren murmured as he voiced his surprise. I don't think he meant for anybody to hear it but Levi raised his eyebrows.

“I'll pass but thanks, dumbass,” He deadpanned and Eren turned a bright red that gave fire trucks a run for their money.

“Um, Levi,” Coach Ral interjected, “You aren't supposed to swear at the students.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes but said nothing.

“You aren't as tall in person.”

Several mouths dropped as Levi pivoted on his heel to face the boy who had spoken and narrowed his eyes. The boy had brown hair and was a whole head taller than him and didn't seem to noticed the deathly glare on the new coach's face. A freckled boy with black hair elbowed him in the side but he just furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

Levi approached the boy and stood before him. I could sense the concealed anger under his masked face which only showed annoyance. Height must have been a really sensitive subject for him.

“What's your name?” Levi asked the boy.

“Jean Kirschtein, Coach,” he answered boldly.

“And do you always go out of your way to be an obnoxious little shit or is it just a character flaw?”

Coach Ral seemed like she wanted to say something about him swearing again but decided against it.

“I-what?” Jean seemed appalled by this turn of events. Eren snickered and Jean spared a glare his way before he turned his attention back to the tiny man.

“Kirschtein!” Levi yelled and the boy took an involuntary step backwards. He really was intimidating despite his size.

“Yeah?”

“Five laps around the field. Now.”

“What? Why?”

“Because your horse face annoys me,” Levi said before turning his back on all of us, “In fact, everyone take five laps. Consider this the beginning of try outs.”

There was an awkward moment where everyone looked at each other before Eren started running and everyone else followed suit.

I paced myself as we ran as most of the others did. Back when I was a Titan, I was the quickest runner on the team which is probably one of the main reasons I was on the team. I wasn't the ideal batter but I could could run three bases in the time it took for most to run a base and a half. It also made me a killer outfielder.

At the last lap, I picked up my pace and quickly passed many of the others. I soon caught up to Eren and Jean who seemed to be racing each other at the front of the line. For a moment I ran with them before I passed them both completely and smirked to myself. Let Krista see that.

Suddenly, I felt a presence beside me. I looked over and saw Mikasa keeping pace with me. She didn't acknowledge me before she pulled ahead of me. I gritted my teeth and sped up matching her speed but no sooner had I done so, she sped up once more. My competitive nature kicked in and I quickened my pace and passed Mikasa.

Apparently Mikasa had a competitive side as well as she ran alongside me. I knew she probably wasn't giving it everything she had and neither was I. As we started the last stretch I put all my energy into running, knowing that I would leave Mikasa in the dust. As expected, I pulled ahead of her easily but she seemed to have put all her strength into the last leg as well. She wasn't as fast as me sprinting but I could imagine that in a long distance run she could surpass me. Fortunately, I didn't need long distance when running bases. But even so, she was close behind me as we finished the lap.

I finished the last lap and then walked over to where my water bottle was. Once I had taken a drink and looked up I saw that most of the others were finishing up.

I had to give Mikasa props. I had actually had fun while trying to beat her. I smiled a little as she looked over from drinking her water and she nodded back. Friendly and fun competition. That's the reason I had always enjoyed baseball. But being with the Titans, baseball had never really been either.

I shook my head. From what it seemed, the Scouts seemed obsessed with beating the Titans. Almost like they were just as obsessed with winning as everyone else always was.

_I'm doing this for a date, that's all._

“Alright, everyone line up!” Levi shouted after we had all gotten a drink. Once we did as we were told he continued, “We are going to be starting with some hitting drills starting with your stance and coiling. Then we will move onto the next drills. Get your gear and we'll start.”

For the next hour and a half, we did drill after drill. I was out of practice seeing as I hadn't actually picked up my bat or glove in about a year but my base running was still near perfect.

We all were reacting differently having an actual sports star as our coach. Some, including Jean and Eren, were showing off and it made them look a little pathetic. Others were just so nervous they kept making mistake after mistake. I couldn't really blame everybody though.

The only ones who seemed unaffected were Krista and Mikasa. 

Mikasa had natural talent and it was extremely obvious that she was the best on this team. Coach Levi pulled her aside at one point and talked to her for about fifteen minutes before letting her back onto the field. I knew instantly she was going to be on the team.

Krista, however, was different story. While she didn't seem particularly concerned that someone famous was coaching our team, she also wasn't very good. She was great at ground balls and alright at bunting but those were pretty much her only two skills. She had stamina but her base running needed a lot of work.

Not many of the others were very good either. Eren tried really hard but nothing really came to him easily. Armin wasn't athletic at all but made really good calls and always seemed to know just exactly which play to make, even if he couldn't carry it out. Jean was almost the same, assessing the situation before helping others out. The freckled kid, Marco, followed Jean's lead almost as if he were a puppy. I automatically knew that those two were dating.

Eventually, Coach Levi called us all over to him.

“We are going to play a mock game,” He told us, “I've already divided you up into two teams which will have more than nine people on it due to the number of people trying out. It's only going to have two innings. Once everyone on the first team finishes batting, you will switch so the second team can bat. I won't instruct you; I just want to see how you all do on your own.”

In the end, I was put on the team with Jean, a bald kid named Connie, Mina, a redheaded girl whose name I had forgotten, and Krista as well as several other kids whose name I didn't care to remember.

We didn't bat first so we all grabbed out gloves and headed out to the field. Connie stepped up to the pitcher's mound and I assumed that he had been the pitcher last year but then Coach Levi shouted out to us.

“No. Let Horse Face pitch!”

Jean grumbled a bit at the coach's nickname for him but went to pitch anyway. 

He was remarkably good at pitching. Eren had been first up and had missed the first pitch but hit the second one. He probably would have gotten to second base if I hadn't managed to catch it.

“Good job, Ymir!” Krista called out breathlessly from first base as I threw the ball back to Jean.

Person after person batted. Due to lack of experience from both “teams”, it was a messy affair. The only one who was able to make it to home was Mikasa, unsurprisingly enough, and she did it with a home run.

Once they had all finished, we switched sides and Marco stepped up to the pitcher's mound. Connie batted first and he hit the ball first try. He was fast; he made it to the first base but then stupidly decided to go for second which resulted in him getting out. 

Several other people went before I stepped up to the plate. Marco threw a curve ball but I hit it with ease and ran like hell. It wasn't technically a home run but by the time that Sasha had made it to the ball and threw it to Armin on third base, I was already home. I looked over at Krista, trying not to be obvious, and she gave me a double thumbs up before turning around to get ready for her turn to bat. I looked down and silently rejoiced at her silent praise. As I raised my eyes however, I spotted Coach Levi staring in my direction with his eyes narrowed. He didn't look away right away, but when he did, I had a feeling that something I had done had somehow displeased him.

Once everyone had finished, Coach Levi had us line up shoulder to shoulder once more before taking the his clipboard and smacking Connie over the head with it.

“Springer! What is your excuse for trying to run second base knowing that you wouldn't make it?” He asked flatly.

“I-I'm not sure. Just thought I would try,” Connie responded. Levi made a sound of disgust at the back of his throat before moving on to his next target. 

I started to drown his voice out as he berated various people for their performance until I heard my name being called.

“Goldhull!” He said as he stood in front of me.

“Yeah, Coach?” I asked looking down at him. I honestly didn't expect to be called out. I had definitely done a lot better than most of them.

“Why the hell are you trying out?” He asked me.

Well, shit. I couldn't very well say it was for a date. I glanced over at Krista before returning my gaze to Levi.

“To play,” I lied.

“Bullshit,” He replied, “You're damn good, but you aren't playing to get on this team. Why are you here?”

“I'm telling the truth,” I said, “I want to be on this team.”

“Don't insult me. I've seen plenty of people play baseball and I know when somebody is playing for themselves and you aren't. All these kids here have more room for improvement than you do because they are all here for baseball and baseball alone. If you aren't here to play baseball then get the fuck off this field now.”

I wanted to leave. I had already done what I had promised Krista I would but then I thought back to what it had felt like running the bases again and actually feeling the victory of hitting the home plate. How it felt to just compete with someone because it was fun. In that moment, I probably did the stupidest thing imaginable.

“I'm here to play, Coach,” I said, not lying this time.

He raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything before moving on. I glanced over at Krista and saw she was suppressing a smile. I realized belatedly that this was exactly what she wanted to happen.

After he had finished reprimanding the rest of the people, he took the clipboard from Coach Ral.

“Alright you shitty brats, here is the list of who is on the team: Hannah Abbott, Mikasa Ackerman, Franz Antsu, Armin Arlert, Marco Bott, Sasha Braus, Mina Carolina, Ymir Goldhull, Eren Jaeger, Jean Kirschtein, Krista Lenz, Samuel Meru, Connie Springer, Nack Teaz, Tomas Wagner, and Millius Zermusky. Does anybody have any questions?”

“Uh, yeah, actually,” Eren spoke up, “Why are we starting practices so early this year?”

“Because you shits need all the practice you can get. Anybody else?”

Everybody shook their head and Coach Levi nodded.

“Good. Those of you who made the team: Congrats. See you at four on Monday.”

With that, he turned on his heel and started walking away with Coach Ral on his heels saying something about not swearing at the students.

The rest of us gathered up our gear and started going home. Eren was boasting to both Mikasa and Armin about beating the Titans was going to be easy with Coach Levi. 

I gathered my stuff silently until I felt someone beside me. I stood up and looked at the person. Krista smiled brightly at me.

I sighed. “I suppose you knew this would happen.”

“I might have had an inkling. Like I said, you always looked really happy playing. At least in the games I've seen you in,” She answered.

I sighed once more as I hefted my bag up onto my shoulder.

“Well, I suppose you got what you wanted. I guess if you are on the team, it isn't so bad anyway.”

She blushed a little and I almost wanted to just hug her right there because she was so damn cute but then she looked up at me with her impossibly blue eyes.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, “The date!”

“Forget it,” I said turning around, “Don't worry about it.”

I felt a hand on my arm and turned to look down at her. 

“You aren't mad at me, are you?” She asked wide-eyed.

“No, I just...”

_Why am I doing this?_ I thought to myself.

Deep down, I knew that she didn't care for me the way I did for her. Forcing her on a date now wouldn't really make me happy. The plain truth of the matter was that even if we did go out on this date, that would be it. I wanted more than just one date. I wanted her to like me the way I liked her and to do stupidly cute things with her because she was just too damn adorable.

“You just what?” She prompted. 

“I just figure that I'm going to get you to like me back before I ask you out properly.”

“What?” She seemed taken aback.

“Tell me the truth. Do you really like me as more than a friend?” I asked her. She looked at me for a moment before looking down at the ground.

“Well...I...”

I waited for her to finish but she didn't. I took my hand and put it to her face to make her raise her head to look back at me.

“You really only just met me so I don't really expect you to think of me that way but I will make you like me, Krista Lenz. Then we can go a proper date.”

She didn't say anything but I withdrew my hand and laughed.

“Just you wait,” I told her.

This time she smiled back at me before saying, “Fine. I'll be waiting with baited breath.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I'm not sure about this chapter. Oh well.
> 
> Beginnings are always the hardest for me to write but I feel like I'm getting out of that beginning stage and now I really have a clear idea of where the story is going.
> 
> I honestly don't know what the hell happens in baseball tryouts. I just did some research concerning it and this is what I've got. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed!


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